


There is no Alternative to being an adult, but that doesn't mean you have to completely grow up

by pondCrow



Category: Fate/Grand Order
Genre: Adults, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Office, Awkward Romance, Drinking, F/F, Implied Sexual Content, Japan, Nerdiness, Pining, Senpai-Kouhai Relationship, Smoking, Unrequited Love, fujoshi/otaku, misread feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:55:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25263457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pondCrow/pseuds/pondCrow
Summary: After Alteria joined Jeanne's company the two discovered they were both hiding being otaku from their co-workers. Jeanne decided to take her under her wing, and the two became fast friends spending much of their time outside of work together. Although they are close, neither fully realizes their feelings for each other are more than just friendship.
Relationships: Jeanne d'Arc Alter | Avenger/Artoria Pendragon Alter | Saber
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	1. If you have the money skip the kuji and go right to K-Books

**Author's Note:**

> After reading a lot of Wotakoi recently, the thought of Jeanne Alter and Artoria Alter as office workers in Ikebukuro who hide being otaku at work kept coming to mind. From there the ideas for how that might play out kept coming, and this is the result of that.
> 
> Since they aren't Servants in this I changed their names to be slightly more normal sounding, and also so that if other versions of Jeanne or Artoria happen to show up in future chapters it'll be less confusing/wordy. Also yes, they have very foreign names for people in Japan, but lets not worry about that.

At night the area east of the Ikebukuro station became a LED lit melting pot of people. Officer workers looking for food and drink after work, mingled next to students loitering in the arcades, while both blended into the nerds browsing the second hand otaku goods and book shops.

“Sorry, I forgot this was coming out today,” Jeanne Dark gestured to the blue bag she held as they walked away from the town’s glowing blue tower of anime and manga.

“Looks like more than one thing to me,” Alteria Castus noted between bites of an already half eaten burger that’d somehow come into her possession despite there being no nearby fast food places.

“Look,” Jeanne’s eyes avoided contact with Alteria, “it would be inefficient to just go and buy only one thing at a time.”

She could feel Alteria’s blank stare, or rather sense it from the sudden lack of chewing noises. At least until Alteria finally gave a dismissive, “Meh” and resumed eating. Although Alteria would often tease her about how much she’d gotten, she would also take advantage of borrowing from Jeanne’s collection in order to allocate her funds elsewhere.

“You find anything?”

Alteria’s face took on a look of restrained excitement as she held up a blue bag much smaller than Jeanne’s, “They had a few of my girls in.”

Although it was a reaction Alteria rarely did, Jeanne had always found this expression of her enthusiasm to be one of her most charming aspects. The first time she saw it was shortly after Alteria had joined Jeanne’s company. She’d happened to see the telltale blue bag Jeanne had been hiding in her purse after a lunchtime excursion to the store. Her incredibly poor attempt to hide her excitement couldn’t help but make Jeanne want to take her under her wing.

They became quick friends after that, making frequent after work stops to the shops and restaurants around their office. Before long they started spending their weekends together going to Akiba and Nakano, hanging out at Jeanne’s apartment, or at the very least chatting as they watched anime or gamed together in their own homes.

The less congested side road they walked soon merged into a busier thoroughfare. It was less a single mass of people than groups moving fluidly in both directions. 

Jeanne attempted to casually stretch while they walked, drawing Alteria’s notice to the strain it was putting on her dress shirt. Although Jeanne’s office attire of a suit minus the jacket fit her and her style well, especially with her incredibly long white hair. Although from Alteria’s perspective it seemed her figure often gave her clothes trouble in certain places. 

Alteria on the other hand didn’t have any such issues with her skirt suits, or with any clothes for that matter.

“I’m not sure I’m up for a bar tonight,” Jeanne said as her dress shirt relaxed.

“You just want to get home and start reading.”

Jeanne turned to her and flashed a mischievous smile, “Can you blame me?” 

Alteria crumpled up her empty burger wrapper as she felt her face become flush. Turning away to hide it she put the trashed wrapper into her purse.

“We’ve got off tomorrow so why don’t you come over? We can stop at the convini for food and beer.”

Alteria didn’t respond, but the look of joy as she turned back was all the answer Jeanne needed. Although whether it was for the convini food or the invitation to come over, she wasn’t sure.

  


* * *

  


“Looks like you had a case of beer already,” Alteria peaked around the fridge door as Jeanne unpacked their boxed dinners and snacks onto the coffee table.

“Right…” Jeanne paused her unpacking and rubbed her temple, “how full is it?”

Alteria turned back to the interior of the fridge. Removing one of the beers from the six pack she had intended to put into the fridge, she gingerly pushed it into the cardboard beer container’s opening before closing the fridge.

“It’s full now.” 

Jeanne’s place was located on the fifth floor of an apartment building around the corner from the convenience store. Though built in the 90s it still looked fairly modern, apparently a trait from some new exterior paint and some interior renovations the building received just prior to her moving in.

The living room she’d initially kept sparsely decorated with a few plants, a cheap coffee table from Ikea, a comfortable but minimalistic grey couch with no armrests, and TV stand with doors to hide her game consoles behind. But as Alteria had become a more frequent visitor, many of her books and anime accoutrema had begun to migrate from her bedroom to the living room, leading to a few small bookshelves, display shelves, and framed art being added to the room.

Making her way to the couch Alteria removed a beer from its ring and opened it before dangling the remaining four ringed cans in Jeanne’s direction. Sitting on the floor Jeanne put them next to her as her table had become inundated with fried foods and salty snacks. They settled on watching an anime while they ate, choosing a new series based on a mobile game Alteria frequently played. Alteria occupied one side of the couch, while Jeanne sat on the floor at the opposite end using it as back support.

They watched a few episodes like this pausing between each to discuss the goings on. Which ultimately would turn to characters and pairings they liked. Alteria had long tried to get Jeanne to play the game knowing that some of the female knights she’d immediately love, and so was happy to find Jeanne instantly lock-on to them even with their limited screen time in the show so far.

“Wasn’t there a kuji for this show you were going to do?” Jeanne motioned at her with her third beer as the credits for the most recent episode rolled by on screen.

Alteria picked up her half empty can from amongst her three empty ones on the table. “It had been mostly picked dry by the time I got to it. So there were mostly just charms left.”

“It’s always a bummer when you know you can’t get the really good prizes.”

After a sip Alteria lets out an exasperated sigh, a bit more so than seemed warranted, “Since I didn’t spend as much as I was expecting I figured I’d play some games to kill time. Which is when I ran into Mizutani.”

“From work?”

“Yeah...”

They both drank a little.

“I acted like I was there on a whim… luckily the crane machine was just for a Pokemon and not something worse.”

“Maybe…” Jeanne gestured ponderously with her beer, “Maybe you need to start going in like a more incognito nerdy look. I’ll do that sometimes.”

Alteria stared ahead blankly, “Whenever I’ve done that the high schoolers start trying to talk with me.”

Jeanne caught herself before spitting out her beer, causing Alteria to glare.

“Sorry,” Jeanne used the hand that had been covering her mouth to try and subtly wipe away anything that might have escaped, “I suddenly pictured you in a school uniform, and realized I’d probably make that mistake too.”

She received only a grumble in response as Alteria looked for solace in her beer. 

Jeanne looked for a remedy to the poor reception to her joke, realizing one she pulled out her phone and began fiddling with it before holding it out to Alteria, “Here.”

Still miffed, but more confused, Alteria instinctively takes the phone. On the screen is a crop of a group photo of what looks like some students in a high school, possibly after a cultural festival. The crop is on one girl in particular. Though you can’t see much of the other students she looks small compared to the others, almost like a middle schooler had somehow snuck into the shot, with very short white hair that looked as though she had poorly cut it herself.

“That was either first or second year,” had Alteria looked at Jeanne, she'd have seen the red of embarrassment overtaking the red of having been drinking. “I didn’t really grow... up until college.”

Alteria looked up at her with restrained tears in her eyes, which Jeanne thought was touching until it was joyfully followed by “Oh my god! You were such a nerd!”

In a single quick motion she snatched her phone back, which was easy enough as Alteria was too busy chuckling to herself to put up any resistance.

“I was not! I did sports!”

Jeanne pouted into her beer until Alteria’s giggling fit subsided.

“Sorry,” Alteria wiped away the tears from her face before a much more serious look covered her face before bowing slightly toward Jeanne. “Thank you for trusting me with your terrible secret.”

An empty beer can lightly dinged her in the head and Alteria sat up with a smirk. “Sorry, sorry. I wasn’t expecting my cool senpai to have been so uncool looking.”

“Like I said, a lot changed in college.”

“Is that when you started growing your hair out?”

“No…” 

* * *

_Jeanne remembered it feeling unseasonably warm, but her senpai had been wearing her uniform jacket. The details of graduation brooch on the jacket’s lapel were so ingrained in her mind, which she realized later was because her eyes had focused on it the whole time. Jeanne felt her mouth open and close, but only heard the passing spring breeze. A light hand planted on her head. Looking up she saw her smile. For Jeanne seeing her smile was nothing new, but only rarely was it as warm and genuine as she did now. The hand began to lightly then more aggressively tussle her hair causing Jeanne to avert her gaze. “You know? I bet long hair would suit you.”_

* * *

For Alteria it felt as though the air had suddenly been pulled out of the room. The quiet moment seemed to go on forever until Jeanne stood up. She looked away heading towards the kitchen with some of the empty cans and bags. Alteria remembered to breathe finally.

“I should really start filling the bath,” she said somewhat aimlessly, “You should probably get going if you want to get enough sleep for tomorrow.”

“Yeah…” was the only response she could come up with.

Alteria suddenly felt very awkward and imposing to be at Jeanne’s right now, like accidently walking into a stranger’s home instead of your own while they were arguing. This feeling was only compounded by the daze she felt as she started to stand up. Although both her legs did seem to get the message. 

Stumbling off the couch she luckily fell into the nearby wall. Managing to use it to keep enough balance to prevent her from crashing to the floor.

Before her conscious brain actions caught up to her instinctive movements, Jeanne had already appeared next to her holding onto her arm. Alteria could only smile sheepishly at her in response to the alarmed concern on Jeanne’s face. 

“Maybe it would be best if you stayed. We’re going out together tomorrow anyway.”

The air was back, but it felt different.


	2. Problems in youth are born from inexperience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeanne thinks about getting crushed by her first crush. Alteria is self conscious. Completely normal sleep over things.

Sliding into the warm bath gave Jeanne a similar feeling to waking up under a warm blanket in a cold room. It was comforting to the point that you questioned why anyone would leave that warmth most days.

Her hand reached out of habit for the beer can she’d usually bring to the bath with her. She was both happy she was being responsible enough to not have brought one with her tonight, but also lamented that it might be the perfect time to have had one.

It frightened her a little that she wasn’t sure why that moment had suddenly come flooding back to her, but perhaps more so how cold she’d suddenly gotten to Alteria. Luckily at least she had some time still tonight to rectify that.

She let out a soft sigh before recalling that graduation brooch.

  
_“Yo! Dark!”_

_Jeanne quickly turned her head to see Eckes-senpai give a big wave having spotted her on the small set of bleachers near the school’s track. Eckes enthusiastic smile always drew the eye away from her generally disheveled appearance._

_Her uniform constantly seemed too big or too small in different places, the jacket in particular Jeanne was pretty sure she’d conned some boy out of during her first year. While her blonde hair was always haphazardly tied back in a high ponytail, although there were always weird stragglers of hair that escaped confinement._

_Jeanne stood up straight and waited for her to get closer. Her eyes shifted to the brooch on Eckes lapel, it was to be both a reminder and motivator for her that this was her last chance._

_“I’m glad you texted, I couldn’t find you earlier.”_

_“Um…” Jeanne felt herself lose a sense of what language was, her mind drawn to the puzzle of what even was the logic of language anyway?_

_Jeanne’s eyes shifted from the brooch up to Eckes’ face. It felt like she was towering over her, although she always did. Eckes was the star of the track team, the charismatic captain that everyone, even the boys looked up to and listened to._

_Jeanne was never sure what she saw in her, but one day she started tutoring her. Having Jeanne try every event, and just as she felt like she was getting a handle on it would make her do something different. Hurdles one week, then shot put the next, then pole vault the following. As such Jeanne never quite found an event she specialized in, and so at meets Eckes seemingly had her fill in wherever they needed someone._

_Jeanne appreciated the attention from Eckes, but as a byproduct she’d also come to know most of the team. And although she wasn’t winning any medals, or putting up amazing personal records, the way her teammates seemed to rely on her gave her a sense of at least not being a burden to them._

_Realizing the puzzled expression on Eckes face Jeanne snapped back to the moment, and her eyes darted back to the brooch._

_That damn brooch._

_Why had she taken so long to do this?_

_Why did she need to be at the edge of a cliff to do it?_

_Eckes began to say something, but stopped as she watched Jeanne take a deep breath and with her eyes closed they shifted focus from the brooch back to Eckes’ face._

_“Captain,” that wasn’t how she had practiced starting it, but whatever just go with it, “I like you.”_

_Eckes’ face took on a more neutral expression as Jeanne continued._

_“I realize I should have done this sooner, especially with you going away to college, but I hoped that maybe before you go we might be able to…” Jeanne’s voice and eyes trailed off though she wasn’t sure why._

_“Jeanne,” her name sounded strange coming out of Eckes mouth. She realized later it was because she’d never heard her say it before. In fact she never called anyone by anything other than their last name. “You’re going to be a great Captain.”_

_“Eh?!”_

_The non-sequitur snapped Jeanne from her malaise causing her to stare at Eckes with a wide eyed look of shock and confusion._

_“I was a little worried you weren’t going to be able to make tough calls and take the initiative,” Eckes looked over at the track. The serious look on her face felt in strange contrast to the cheery tone of her voice. “But I’m glad I wasn’t wrong two years ago.”_

_Eckes watched Jeanne’s face contort into different expressions as her mind tried to catch up with what was going on._

_“Oh right, I guess I never really told you,” the aloof tone to Eckes voice just seemed to make things worse for Jeanne. “Shortly after you joined me and the previous Captain noticed that you seemed to pick up techniques really quickly. I figured a Captain who knew the ins and outs of every event, and each team member was maybe just what we needed.”_

_“So you were just spending time with me…” Jeanne felt suddenly very empty, wishing she had just gotten a normal rejection._

_“No.”_

_Eckes hands clamped onto her shoulders. Jeanne could feel the hard calluses on her hands through the thin material of her shirt. Looking up Eckes was smiling, but her eyes were not._

_“Your friendship has meant more to me than I can probably express. I’m not sure I could have gotten through these last two years without you, and I’m not talking about track.”_

_Jeanne suddenly found herself in Eckes embrace, one arm around her back and on holding her head. In the soft warmth of Eckes’ chest she realized at some point she’d started crying._

_“I’m sorry I was such a bad Captain, and such a bad friend,” as Eckes spoke Jeanne’s arms slowly curled around her back._

_“And I’m sorry I can’t return your feelings,” Eckes lowered her forehead to rest on Jeanne, “But you are going to do so much better without me.”_

  
Almost breathing in bath water through her nose snapped Jeanne back to the present. Feeling as though ennui just sucker punched her in the stomach she slides her head underwater until completely submerged in the water’s warmth.

After remerging water streamed off her bangs until it became a slow drip. Each drip caused a slight echo as it hit the water. It was still a painful memory, although not a sad one anymore, rather because of how immensely dissatisfied she was by it.

* * *

The stagnant humid air of the bathroom gave Alteria the sensation that her skin was still wet, despite having already toweled off. 

She’d spent the entirety of Jeanne’s and her own bath working through a shame she felt for showing weakness like that. For her it demonstrated an embarrassing level of immaturity that went against the image she tried to cultivate for herself. She’d begun to regret not having snuck out while Jeanne was in the bath and unable to stop her. 

However as she looked down at the t-shirt and lounge pants Jeanne had given her to change into, not having brought any clothes to sleep in of her own, Alteria couldn’t help but be a little elated. Although she would have preferred to have gotten her first invite to stay over at Jeanne’s under different circumstances, she couldn’t help but blush over getting to wear some of Jeanne’s clothes.

The shirt fit surprisingly well, and was adorned with a stylish graphic of some characters from Jeanne’s favorite anime. The pants luckily had an adjustable waist, and once the pant legs were rolled up looked more like intentional sleeping attire and not something quickly thrown together.

Alteria tried to look at herself in the mirror, but found it too fogged up to provide the psyche boost she’d hoped for before leaving her current safe confines.

In the living room she found Jeanne on the couch reading a manga. Her positioning seemed a bit uncomfortable though being perpendicular to a normal seated position. Alteria supposed to either help her long hair air out a bit post hairdryer, or as she hoped was the case so Jeanne could spot her when she left the bath.

Jeanne closed her book and looked over, “Oh good, it looks like the shirt fits ok.”

Despite her anxiety Alteria couldn’t help but find herself falling into normal patterns, and attempts to imitate the pose of one of the characters on the shirt. With Jeanne’s chuckle it felt as though a pressure valve opened in her chest. It seemed for now at least her worries were unfounded.

“I’m glad I kept it. It came with the recent Blu-ray box set, and those promo shirts are never sized right for me.”

With a new sense of relief Alteria walked around to join her on the couch. Only then she was finally able to process the dark grey tank top Jeanne was wearing, having been too caught up in her own anxiety when she’d left the bath earlier. Jeanne, in her experience, didn’t typically wear things that showed even this much skin. 

Alteria could hear her heart, each beat like a warning signal to not stare. Although the sound only changed context when she noticed Jeanne wore a matching (although differently colored) set of lounge pants causing Alteria’s mind to wander to thoughts of matching outfits.

“You ok?” Jeanne tilted her head quizzically.

“Yeah...” Realizing she’d awkwardly been standing in the middle of the room Alteria quickly slid onto the couch. “I was just thinking I’m going to need to buy some clothes tomorrow before we go out. Going doujin shopping in work clothes seems like a bad idea.”

“Yeah,” Jeanne used it more as a filler word than an approval as she was thinking of something, which Alteria could tell from how she played with the book in her hands. “We could go grab breakfast somewhere in the morning while we wait for the shops to open, then come back here so you can change.”

“You…” Alteria had six different things to say pop into her head and they all seemed to fumble in her mouth, “You don’t have to come. I don’t want to inconvenience you already more than I am.”

She’d wanted to say something else, but it was as though the sudden sweltering heat of the room was frying her brain. 

“No worries, I’ve been meaning to pick up some new clothes for the summer,” Jeanne flashed a smile. 

It was not fake, or one grinning through begrudging inconvenience, but one that told Alteria she was genuinely looking forward to it. Although it was a small thing, it was a reminder of how Jeanne genuinely seemed to enjoy being around her, which in turn made Alteria feel the most at ease and comfortable around her. Even at her most open and awkward. Which was all she needed to feel herself cool down again.

“What if we picked out outfits for each other?” the question had just sort of slipped out of Alteria’s mouth. Suddenly finding herself trying to regain her footing like she’d jumped onto an ice rink in sneakers. “I mean…” 

Quickly caught eye of the cover of the manga Jeanne was reading. 

“Like…” she gestured at the book cover which Jeanne flipped over to look at. 

It was a series about a twin brother and sister who swapped bodies. The cover illustration depicted them back to back wearing each other's clothes.

“Like we pick out something we’d wear, but we get it in the other person’s size?”

She wanted to die.

What was that?

The question of if she had enough run up to burst through Jeanne’s front door like a cartoon character, and then never stop running crossed her mind. 

While in Jeanne’s head her initial confusion gave way to the image of Alteria in one of the outfits she kept around to wear when going out with her less nerdy friends.

“Sure…” Jeanne cleared her throat lightly to try and get the tone of her voice as matter-a-fact as possible, “Sounds like fun.”

The two sat in what should have been an awkward silence for a few minutes, but both were too busy taking a mental catalog of their wardrobes and how the other might look in them to notice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eckes is the surname for this AU's version of Mysterious Heroine XX.
> 
> See it's like the plural of X.
> 
> Xs.
> 
> Eckes.
> 
> It's really not that clever.


	3. Problems in adulthood are born from experience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeanne and Alteria have a surprisingly eventful night sleep.

The two eventually returned to more normal conversation as Jeanne continued to read her manga, while Alteria tried to get through her mobile game daily quests before they reset. Jeanne was the first to get sleepy, giving Alteria some bedding supplies to make the couch more comfortable before heading off to her room.

Jeanne’s room was roughly the same size as her living room and kitchen. Giving her ample space for a double bed, a wardrobe, a desk that was home to her gaming laptop and other PC gaming accessories, and two bookshelves. Each full of various manga, doujinshi, and displays of figurines and other merch she’d collected over the years. 

What little free wall space there was was decorated with displays of various character keychains and pins. These were cycled in and out with other ones she kept in a small filing cabinet under her desk or with new purchases, depending on her mood and current fandom. There was also a small stack of doujin she kept on her desk within arms reach from her bed. 

Like the wall decorations, what was in the pile changed based on whatever she was currently into at the time, although there were one or two that had survived long passed her interest in the series they were based on.

As she sat on her bed she reached out to grab one out of habit, but stopped. Instead she laying back on her bed hoping this wasn’t going to be one of those nights where all the thoughts in her head kept her awake all night.

* * *

When Alteria’s eyes slowly opened her mind was still caught in the blurry line between awake and asleep. The dim amount of sunlight coming in through the window behind her forced her eyes to adjust from the darkness of her eyelids to the well lit room. 

At least normally that would have been the case, but a recognition of something about the room caused her brain to snap into panic mode. Realizing first that what she was looking at wasn’t her own bed room, and wasn’t Jeanne’s living room either. This was soon followed with corroborating reports from her other senses; she was not on the couch under a throw blanket, but in a bed under a duvet with the sound of someone softly breathing behind her.

Her mind was a blur of thoughts as she replayed the end of the night in her memory for how she got here, but she could only remember falling asleep on the couch. Her mind shifted then to a chaotic cloud of other possible explanations: maybe in a daze she’d mistaken Jeanne’s apartment for her own and gotten into the bed? Perhaps a ghost was playing a trick on her? Or maybe Jeanne had carried her here?

The thought gave her pause, and blushed cheeks.

Taking advantage of the halt in chaotic thoughts she took a deep breath before deciding first and foremost to confirm her predicament. Slowly she pushed her butt further into the bed, hoping to encounter the wall after a long trek, but instead quickly making contact with something much softer.

While the sounds of someone quietly breathing behind her should have been enough, she still needed to confirm Jeanne’s presence behind her. She luckily still seemed asleep, which made the only clear option to try and sneak out of bed and onto the couch, and hope Jeanne didn’t wake up or notice her intrusion at all. 

As she slid out from under the covers she found herself for the first time in a while she was thankful for how small and light she was. Slowly pacing her left hand and leg on the floor she slowly redistributed the weight on the bed until her right side had escaped the tyranny of the duvet.

Making her way quietly to the door she glanced back. Jeanne slept on her side facing the wall, seemingly undisturbed by Alteria’s encroachment.

* * *

“Jeeeeeea~nnnne”

While the sound of her bedroom door opening had started to rouse Jeanne from her slumber out of instinct, but the strange elongated pronunciation of her name got her the rest of the way there.

“Alteria?” she asked rhetorically as she could already make out Alteria’s likeness in the darkness. Her hair was a bit messy, and one of the pant legs she’d curled up earlier had come undone and was now serving as a makeshift slipper.

“It’s cold,” Alteria reported in the matter of fact/complaining tone of a child to an adult.

“I’ll get you a blanket.”

Jeanne, closer to the far side of the bed, threw back the covers to help her egress. However in her sleepy state Alteria seemed to take this as an invitation, falling onto the near side of the bed next to Jeanne before she could move. 

She continued to hold the covers back in shock, while Alteria nestled face down to sleep next to her. The quiet sounds of Alteria sleeping were antithetical to Jeanne’s heartbeat in her ears. 

Rather than disturb her Jeanne lowered the comforter on top of both of them before turning away to face the wall with her back to Alteria. Taking slow deep breaths she tried to calm herself, but as she hyper fixated the slight movements and sounds Alteria made next to her she could feel herself wanting to flee the increasingly warm bed.

While staring at the wall she eventually found her own breathing matching Alteria’s. With this realization came another, one that caused a forlorn knowing smile to cross her face. Not long after she joined Alteria in dreamland.

* * *

In the dim morning light Jeanne noticed for the first time how textured her walls were. She’d honestly never really paid that much attention to them, or at least had never spent so much time looking at them so closely. 

Then something soft made contact with her backside before quickly retreating, signalling that perhaps Alteria had finally woken up.

Jeanne pretended to still be asleep while she imagined what Alteria was doing based on the sounds she made and how the bed moved. Jeanne couldn’t help but smile though at the thought of making fun of Alteria later for all this, but for now wished she wasn’t so eager to leave.

After the door quietly closed Jeanne waited a few moments before rolling onto her back, spreading herself across the entire bed.

“Fuck,” she quietly sighed. While a single word, it seemed a perfect encapsulation of all of her feelings on the situation at hand. 

She’d realized it during Alteria’s invasion last night, although it was even more apparent now as she felt the warmth from where Alteria had been sleeping. 

She liked Alteria. 

She liked how excited she got about her favorite characters, the way she would poorly play off being flustered in certain social situations, and how she seemed to always smell of cheeseburgers. 

Just thinking about her made Jeanne smile.

That smile quickly dissipated though as the reality of the situation returned. 

She’d realized even in the unlikely case Alteria liked her back, she couldn’t pursue her. While not her direct boss, she was in a managerial position of power over her. The dynamic had been a concern for Jeanne early in their friendship, that perhaps Alteria was simply being friendly because Jeanne was more senior at the company. But even though that concern about their friendship had gone away with time it came back with a vengeance now, and much worse.

She couldn’t put that kind of pressure on Alteria.

She also didn’t want to lose the friendship they had.

In this moment she felt like she understood Eckes a little better.

“Fuck indeed” Jeanne said to an empty room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was initially conceived as a much shorter fluffier scene or Alteria sleepily getting into Jeanne's bed, but the lure of Jeanne realizing and wrestling with her feelings felt more interesting. I also didn't want to drag out Jeanne not realizing how she felt, which made this moment seem like the best/worst time for her to.


	4. Shopping for someone else inevitably leads to shopping for oneself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeanne and Alteria go shopping for each other, and then for themselves.

With some spare time until the clothing store Alteria wanted to visit opened her and Jeanne decided to have a light breakfast first at a nearby Starbucks. With their food and drink and hand they found a small table on the shop’s mostly empty third floor.

Alteria wore office attire from the day before sans jacket, having used Jeanne’s laundry machine to clean it the night before. Jeanne had also put on some work attire, a dark gray shirt and black slacks, in case Alteria felt anxious about wearing work clothes on a day off.

“So was my bed comfortable?” Jeanne took a sip of her coffee as she watched Alteria’s eyes widen before they darted from her gaze.

Alteria let out a sigh of relief, “So you were awake.”

“In the morning? Yes, but also when you got in.”

Although Alteria's eyes moved back to looking at Jeanne, she still continued to avoid direct eye contact. 

“That part I don’t remember.”

“You came in the middle of the night complaining the couch was too cold,” Jeanne said a small sip for a dramatic pause. “It was cute.”

Alteria’s face began to redden slightly as she tried to stealthfully hide it behind her coffee cup. However before she could regain her composure enough to apologize Jeanne cut through her hesitation, “Sorry, next time I’ll make sure you have enough blankets.”

Jeanne flashed her a goofy smile to reinforce the joking and sardonic tone of her apology, which Alteria couldn’t help but chuckle at.

* * *

The store was mostly vacant on their arrival, having only just opened their doors.   
Equipped with each other's sizes they awkwardly separated on entering. Initially they kept their distance as they browsed, partly out of embarrassment and also out of an agreement to not see what the other picked out until they got back to Jeanne’s apartment.

Eventually they improvised a sort of dance where as one was browsing the shirts and blouses the other would shift over to the pants or skirts. And although each was supposed to pick out something they would buy to wear themselves, they were each tempted towards something they just wanted to see other wearing.

The walk back to Jeanne’s was quiet, broken up by the occasional meaningless non-sequitur statement like: “Haven’t seen that bar before,” or “The crows sure are lively today.” While the only thing of substance discussed was to change one at a time, with Jeanne insisting to go first.

Alteria found herself imprinting the wood grain pattern of Jeanne’s bedroom door in her mind as she anxiously sat on the couch awaiting Jeanne’s appearance. She had originally considered doing something on her phone while she waited, or at least pretending to so, that way when Jeanne finally opened it she wouldn’t be weirdly staring at it. Instead she just stared. 

The sound of the knob turning caused her to snap her into a more upright posture as all these concerns about looking way too enthusiastic to see Jeanne returned to her mind. But before deciding on the best way to not appear as though she’d been staring at the door the whole time Jeanne appeared and it completely left her mind.

As Jeanne fully stepped through the doorway Alteria quickly covered her smile. Jeanne carefully walked into the living room sporting a black and white light checkered blazer on top of a long sleeved black turtleneck, paired with a coral colored long skirt. Seeing Alteria’s reaction she found herself blushing a bit.

“Does everything fit ok?” Alteria said into the hands hiding her mouth.

“I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t pick a skirt.”

“It looks great though!” Alteria stood up to get a better look at her from different angles, “If you put on some boots it’ll look perfect… Oh! I should do your hair too!”

“Ok,” Jeanne said dismissively as she grabbed Alteria’s shoulder and gently pushed her towards the bedroom door. “Your turn first, I left the bag on the bed… you know where that is right?”

The jape was enough to distract Alteria from ogling Jeanne and move into the bedroom. As the door clicked shut behind her Alteria surveyed the empty bedroom. She hadn’t considered that she would or even could end up alone in Jeanne’s bedroom, and the temptation to look through her things surfaced like a breaching whale. Although just like a breaching whale it quickly disappeared after making an impact. While enthused at the idea, she didn’t want to take too long and have Jeanne catch her in the act.

She couldn’t violate that trust, and nodded pleased with herself at the restraint she showed. As she undressed though she noticed next to the bag of clothes on the bed were the clothes Jeanne had worn out that morning. As her hand reached for the bag it diverted to the dark gray shirt instead. 

In the mirror on the back of the door the shirt was almost comically too large on her. Even so she imagined waking up and wearing it to walk out into the living room where Jeanne was making her breakfast. She did her best seductive pose for herself in the mirror. However as the delusion faded into reality the embarrassment became too much for her to look at, and quickly but reluctantly she took it off. 

Meanwhile in the living room Jeanne tried to recall how she used to sit when wearing a skirt. It had been a decade since she last wore one as part of her high school’s uniform, which hadn’t been as long as this one. Back then she’d often wished her school had provided an option for a skirt this long, and she lamented the Monkey’s paw wish finally coming true. Suddenly recalling that she used to wear shorts under her uniform to feel more at ease, she regretted not remembering that sooner.

Lost in this train of thought she didn’t hear Alteria come out into the room until she had loudly cleared her throat to draw Jeane’s attention. As Jeanne looked her eyes were not drawn to the clothes, but to Alteria’s face. She’d let her shoulder length pale blonde hair down, causing it to perfectly frame her bright red face. Her expression was one Jeanne remembered from when they’d first met, it only happened when she was really excited but trying not to show it.

Jeanne had gotten her a pale denim jacket, a white shirt with horizontal gray stripes, and a navy pair of tapered pants made of a jersey material. It was incredibly similar to an outfit Jeanne owned herself and often worn around Alteria when they went out on weekends. It was also one Alteria’d often complimented her on.

Jeanne nonchalantly stood up and started to walk towards her shoe rack by the door, “Let me just put on some boots and we can get going.”

A tug on her hair stopped Jeanne in her tracks, looking back she saw a glint in Alteria’s eyes. “I’m not done with you yet.”

* * *

The small plaza outside Nakano station, but before the shopping arcade was bustling with people. One side of the plaza had been cordoned off with small traffic cones for some sort of school or community band that was going to perform later, or perhaps already had. The students milled around the less trafficked side of their section with a few cleaning their instruments, others mostly chatted.

Alteria walked confidently with the flow of the crowd as Jeanne reluctantly tried to keep up. Now that she was forced to move more briskly the strange penduluming sensation of the giant braid Alteria had made with her hair proved to be incredibly distracting. 

Alteria wanted to style Jeanne’s hair like her own usual look: two small braids that started behind each ear, which then came together around the back of her head to hold a bun together. But Jeanne’s hair was both too short on the sides to do the small braids, and too long in the back to form a bun. Settling instead on putting her long hair into a single massive braid.

“Do you want to stop anywhere first?”

Not getting a response Alteria looked over at Jeanne who had become so focused on walking and avoiding eye contact that she didn’t hear her. Hooking her arm, Alteria pulled her into a tributary alley of the shopping arcade where they could stand and be out of the way of the flowing foot traffic.

“You know you can just walk normally, you don’t have to take so many small steps.”

Jeanne’s embarrassment at her overcautious walking showed on her face. She knew she could easily walk normally in the long skirt, but she felt hesitant about it. The smaller steps she took also made her more conscious of her hair swinging, which kept her from finding a good walking rhythm.

“I’ll be fine once we get to Nakano Broadway,” Jeanne’s eyes looked out past the crowd to their destination at the end of the arcade, “I won’t have to keep up with so many people.”

“Well…” Alteria wasn’t sure how to phrase her offer before she’d already bent her arm like a mug handle in Jeanne’s direction. Jeanne intrinsically felt like she should reject it or pretend that she didn’t see it, but after a moment slid her arm under Alteria’s. 

“Thanks for the support,” Jeanne’s eyes were focused still on the crowd ahead of them, but her smile as she said it sent a tingle up Alteria’s spine. Well it was that or the sideboob that was now pressed against her arm, but she decided not to interrogate which.

As Jeanne had predicted things were easier once they were in Nakano Broadway as the labyrinthian design of the old mall, and the dispersed nature of the character goods and doujinshi shops kept the crowds sparse. Inside the small shops the two were forced to split up, but as Alteria watched Jeanne move around it was clear she wasn’t thinking about the skirt or her hair at all anymore, and had become entirely focused on the search for what she might want to buy.

“Who’s this? I don’t recognize them.” Alteria had been looking for an excuse to sidled up next to Jeanne for a while, finally finding an opening as she crouched looking at keychain charms.

Pushing up from her kneeling position she stood up to closely inspect the character. “They’re an original character from the first anime series.”

“Ah, that explains it. I was only like six or seven when that aired.”

Jeanne’s head comically slumped, reacting as though Alteria had just punched her in the side.

“Come on, you aren’t that much older than me,” Alteria put her arm around Jeanne to straighten her back up.

“Says the girl who still gets mistaken for being in high school,” Jeanne retorted in a jokey mocking tone.

Alteria, not missing a beat, and in as serious a tone as she could muster, “Well you could still pass for a high… uni... graduate student.”

Jeanne pantomimed grabbing at the arrow that had gone through her heart, but the two soon found themselves chuckling softly to each other. At least they did until someone else entered their aisle nearby, at which point they decided to take their leave of that store.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a lot I wanted to cover in this chapter, so it ended up being pretty long. Also Nakano Broadway is an often overlooked place if you are shopping for anime goods, especially older stuff.


	5. Third wheels are sometimes for support

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After shopping Jeanne and Alteria encounter one of Jeanne's old friends, who becomes a third wheel on their trip to a bar.

As the sky started to darken they’d finally made their way out of Nakano Broadway, each having procured some older rare doujinshi and character goods. Although tempted to go straight home and read them, Jeanne felt a need to make up for forcing Alteria to postpone their usual Friday night bar trip. So she agreed to Alteria’s proposition of visiting an anime themed bar nearby for a few drinks before heading home.

It all seemed fairly innocuous as they made their way through the picturesque dimly lit backstreets of tiny bars and restaurants, until a voice suddenly called out from behind them.

“Dark?!”

For Jeanne the voice was instantly familiar, as was the feeling of the arm that suddenly was slung around her shoulder and breast pressing against her arm.

“I almost didn’t recognize you! What are you doing here?”

For Alteria the woman seemed to suddenly appear out of the shadows on the opposite side of Jeanne. She wore an all black pant suit with a slightly less black dress shirt underneath. Its top two buttons were undone, which as she pressed against Jeanne’s arm, caused the opening in the shirt to point directly to her cleavage.

Jeanne sighed before gesturing towards Alteria, “Scathach this is Alteria; Alteria this is Scathach.”

Scathach released her hold on Jeanne as she, in one motion with her right hand, pushed her long flowing hair back behind her ear before extending it out to greet Alteria. Hearing her own name had snapped Alteria from the daze of staring at Scathach’s cleavage, but it still took her a few moments to realize what Scathach was doing and shake her hand back.

After the shake Scathach whispered something into Jeanne’s ear, which caused Jeanne to shake her head. “She’s my work friend… or I guess friend and coworker is more accurate.” From Scathach’s expression she seemed somewhat displeased at this answer, but sated.

“Scathach,” Jeanne turned her attention back to Alteria, her face still neutral, “is an old fujo friend from college.”

“Don’t introduce me like that,” Scathach playfully nudged Jeanne before turning her attention to Alteria. Since her appearance it’d been clear from the look on Alteria’s face she’d been too confused to really process what was going on, but now there was a sudden awed shine to her eyes which couldn’t help but make Scathach smile.

“So where are you two off to?” Scathach directed her attention and question from Jeanne to Alteria.

“N…”

Alteria unintentionally cut off Jeanne eager to answer, “There is a JoJo themed bar nearby I’ve been wanting to check out.”

“I was just going there myself,” for Jeanne Scathach’s smile took on a Chershire-like quality. “I go there pretty often actually. Mind if I tag along?”

* * *

Entering the bar it takes a moment for their eyes to adjust to the dim lighting, eventually allowing them to see the various masks adorning the walls. Although quickly their eyes were drawn to the acrylic case filled with figurines and statues that covered most of the bar countertop. Acting like a defensive shield between the bartender and most of the patrons. 

Luckily for them the bar only had one other customer at the moment, as there wasn’t much space inside for, Jeanne guessed, more than ten or twelve people. This allowed the trio to easily sit together around the far end of the bar, with Jeanne continuing to find herself in the middle.

They idly chatted while perusing the bar’s menu of hundreds of themed drinks, each named after a character or referencing a moment from the storied series. This continues until they receive their drinks at which point Alteria asks what she’d been wanting to since they entered about what Jeanne was like in college. 

Jeanne almost does a spit take before looking over at Scathach, whose face went from pure delight at the question slowly to disappointment at the realization of the answer.

“Actually, she’s still pretty much the same...” the first part of Scathach’s answer let Jeanne breath a small sigh of relief. A feeling that soon went away with the rest of the answer, “... although she was more a nerdy bean pole when I met her.”

As if trying to somehow move faster than the sound of Scathath’s words Jeanne turned to Alteria, hoping to divert the flow of this conversational river before it went any further. “So Scathath is actually a producer on a really popular mobile game.”

It was the ace up her sleeve, or rather it was the only card she had to play. Luckily Alteria was always keen to take this sort of bait. “Oh! Which one?”

Scathath leaned around Jeanne’s conspiratorially causing Alteria to do the same, while Jeanne took the opportunity to lean back away from them. 

“I prefer not to say it out loud in case someone is listening, but…” She flashed her phone screen at Alteria displaying the title screen causing her to happily gasp.

The expression of glee on Alteria’s face slowly changed to one of recognition, “Wait, are you QueenKage?”

“Ah! So you are the friend Jeanne asked to give my friend code to,” From Scathach’s voice Jeanne could tell she’d already pieced that together, but was being polite.

Alteria suddenly bowed as much as she could in Scathach’s direction, “Thank you very much for letting me use all your supports!”

Scathach blushed a little at the unexpected gratitude while attempting to wave it away, “No need for that. It’s my work account.”

“That’s why you always have the perfect supports setup for each event! It makes so much sense now. I figured you were one of those power players whose theorycrafting the best strategies.”

“That’s not entirely untrue,” Scathach mused putting her drink down after a sip, “I just have all the data, and can charge the company for rolls. Which I need to do for testing purposes of course.”

Watching the awe on Alteria’s face couldn’t help but make Jeanne smile, although she tried desperately to hide it from Alteria and especially Scathach. “Alteria, why don’t we switch seats so you don’t have to talk around me?”

“Oh, uh…” Alteria smoothly pushed off her stool, “let me go to the bathroom first, then maybe I’ll take you up on that.”

She looked to Scathach who motioned that the bathroom was around the other end of the bar before she scurried off. Just as she got out of earshot Scathach planted her elbow on the bar, resting her head against her hand as she stared in mocking disbelief at Jeanne. “She’s cute, I can’t believe you aren’t dating.”

Letting the comment roll off her Jeanne picked up her drink saying, “I’m her senior at work, it wouldn’t work.” Before taking a sizable sip.

“So you’re saying you like her.”

“I didn’t say that.”

A scheming expression enveloped Scathach’s face.

“Please,” Scathach pushed herself up into a normal position whilst not taking her eyes off Jeanne, “It’s not like you’re her boss, or even in the same department.”

“Just because you can Cu are together, and work together, doesn’t mean other people can.”

“True, we were already together when they hired us; they knew that,” Scathach pointed her finger at Jeanne while also holding her drink, “But that’s irrelevant here. You are terrible at picking up signals, and I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen you in a relationship. So ask her out, trust me she’s into you.”

“I’m not bad at picking up signals.”

Jeanne looked over to see Scathach making puppy dog eyes at her, “You never respond to mine.”

“Ignoring them is different from not picking up on them.”

Placing a hand on her chest Scathach took on a faux sullen expression before returning to her normal demeanor. “Well you never picked up on Mordred’s signals in college, and she was practically shooting off fireworks.”

Jeanne’s hand stopped in just as it was about to grab her drink. Close enough to feel the slight chill that radiated from the glass.

_ A cold breeze accompanied by the smell of cheap tobacco smoke roused Jeanne from her sleep. Her eyes adjusted to the small dark apartment lit only from the moon’s glow. _

_ As if tracing a moonbeam back to it’s origin her eyes moved from the small circular wooden table in the center of the room towards the open door of the small ledge that was generously called a balcony. Leaning slightly over the railing, the woman’s silhouette was outlined in moonlight and shadow. Whilst a rhythmic red glow near her mouth looked like an aircraft warning light, breaking up the painterly illusion of the scene. _

_ Watching her now Jeanne couldn’t help but admire the smooth yet toned curves of Morderd’s body, on full display in nothing but some small boxer briefs. _

_ Another chill licked her face while she continued to lay in bed, “Aren’t you worried someone will see you?” _

_ Looking back over her shoulder Mordred removed the cigarette from her mouth, putting it out on the top of an empty beer can she’d been holding in her other hand before dropping it in. She sauntered back inside sliding the door closed and placing the can gingerly on the table before taking the few steps back to Jeanne’s bed. _

_ “Maybe I wanted someone to see me.” _

_ Jeanne pushed herself up as Mordred squatted down to her level. Reaching out Jeanne ran her finger across Mordred’s collarbone before letting it slowly work it’s way down the middle of her chest. _

_ Mordred leaned in slowly, until Jeanne’s hand caught her before their lips could meet. _

_ “You don’t get to kiss these lips after smoking.” With her mouth covered Jeanne was solely focused on Mordred’s eyes as they went from lustful, to disappointed, to scheming. _

_ Mordred pulled her head back from Jeanne’s hand, “Only those lips right?” _

_ Jeanne nodded, lifting up the covers slightly. Mordred carefully joined her in the bed, moving entirely under the comforter. Jeanne had already reconciled being late for class in the morning. _

Jeanne turned her attention away from Scathach and towards her half empty drink. Solemnly she lied to it, “Yeah, I guess that’s why I haven’t had a relationship since high school.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I settled on Scathach for this after seeing the official travel outfit drawing of her in a suit. Plus she seemed like she'd be a good producer.
> 
> She's effectively the lead producer on F/GO, whatever that looks like in this world. There was going to be more stuff about her work and her relationship with Cu, but it seemed a little too tangential.


	6. Even if you know the answer, sometimes you still need to ask the question

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything comes to a head on the walk home after drinks with Scathach.

By the time they left the bar and said goodbye to Scathach it was difficult for Jeanne to tell if Alteria was drunk or just giddy from getting to geek out about one of her favorite games to one of the people making it. She had an almost palpable energy even as she recounted what her and Scathach had talked about as if Jeanne hadn’t been there the whole time. Even so Jeanne couldn’t help but enjoy her enthusiasm.

As they exited the Ikebukuro station heading back to Jeanne’s to the things Alteria had left behind, Alteria was suddenly hit with a realization of regret, “I forgot to ask her more about you in college.”

“There isn’t much to that,” Jeanne tried to guide her slightly away from the crowds outside the station to a more vacant path where Alteria’s loud banter would be less embarrassing and they could talk more freely. “We just happened to live next to each other our first year and hit it off.”

Reminiscing Jeanne chuckled to herself, “We usually stayed up way too late watching shows and talking about our ships. It’s a wonder we managed to get to class half the time.”

“Did you two…” Alteria trailed off as her inebriated mind tried to come up with a more subtle way to ask the question.

“At least until her and Cu finally started dating, then she ended up bringing him most of the time,” Jeanne suspected what she was trying to ask and attempted to maneuver her response to answer it as though she was continuing her previous thought. “Although it was fun to watch her mess with him by flirting with me, or sometimes she’d invite me to join them, but I never took it seriously.”

Alteria stopped suddenly in her tracks causing Jeanne to turn back in concern. At least until Alteria asked, “How could you not hit that?!”

Jeanne tried to restrain her laughter as she looked at the drunken shock on Alteria’s face.

“I almost got a nosebleed just looking…” Alteria continued loudly until Jeanne grabbed her hand to pull her along. She felt her body temperature rise as she thought about Jeanne’s hand curled around hers. 

Jeanne’s goal suddenly became trying to get her back to her apartment before she started describing doing some indecent things to her friend to her neighbors. Not that she expected her to, but today had been full of unexpected moments, so it seemed like a possibility now.

Finally arriving at Jeanne’s building Alteria seemed to continue her previous thought, although much softer than before, “...I’m just saying I would have. I would have liked something like that in college.”

Alteria’s boisterous energy from earlier having disappeared, the elevator ride and walk to Jeanne’s apartment took on an eerie silence until the clack of Jeanne’s front door unlocking. 

“Your clothes should still be in my room I think,” Jeanne put her bag on her small kitchen table, as Alteria quietly acknowledged her before heading into the room closing the door behind her.

Jeanne hadn’t expected her to close the door, but quickly figured she was likely going to change. As she moved to the couch she realized she’d forgotten the difficulty she’d had with her skirt when she’d left the apartment. Thinking back on the day she felt exhausted, but one where it felt worth it. 

Holding up her hand she tried to recall the sensation of holding Alteria’s. It had been smaller than she’d expected, but warm. She cut herself off before thinking about how it felt right, which only brought to mind all the comments from Scathach about how they should be dating.

A new wave of exhaustion moved over her, to give herself some respite she tried putting her face in her hands. Continuing to mantra to herself that even if she should she couldn’t.

* * *

Alteria couldn’t remember why she closed the door to Jeanne’s room, or why she braced herself against it as though she had just escaped behind it. She hadn’t been planning to change, but began to realize she maybe just needed a moment alone to herself.

Remembering what she’d said to Jeanne she found no embarrassment for it in hindsight, even though she felt like she should. She looked back at the door as if hoping to see Jeanne through it, but instead caught her reflection in the mirror. For a moment she admired the clothes Jeanne had picked for her, she’d often imagined buying the outfit herself and wearing it together with Jeanne. Although when she looked not at the clothes, but at herself her mind was drawn to thinking about Scathach. 

Seeing herself in the mirror she realized she wasn’t embarrassed by what she’d blurted out, because she really hadn’t meant it. She wouldn’t have wanted to date Scathach, she wished she had been Scathach. 

She imagined looking like Scathach, having that confidence, having that job… and more importantly being that close to Jeanne. Spending those college nights hanging out with Jeanne, being friendly enough to put her arm around her as if it was no big deal. Even if it was just friendship, combined with the rest of the package it was too much for her.

She’d felt jealousy before, but this hurt.

Pulling her gaze away from the mirror she spotted her work clothes laid out nicely on Jeanne’s bed. She stuffed them into a shopping bag.

* * *

Hearing the bedroom begin to open Jeanne quickly took a more relaxed posture on the couch. Turning she was surprised to see Alteria still in the same clothes.

“I’m going to head out,” the flatness of Alteria’s voice caught her off guard.

“Ok…” Jeanne began to get up only to have Alteria put her hand out.

“You don’t have to get up, I can let myself out.”

Stuck somewhere between half standing and half seat Jeanne repositioned herself to sit facing Alteria off the side of the couch. “You sure?” As she looked at her she saw Alteria avert her gaze.

“Yeah…”

Jeanne watched her slowly walk to the door, but as a feeling to tell her to stay began to overtake her, she turned away. Finding her eyes draw to the darkness of her bedroom.

The sound of a shopping bag dropping to the wooden floor snapped Jeanne from her thoughts, but before she could even look over to see where it came from her vision was suddenly blocked by a close up look at Alteria’s cheek. 

Her surprise abated as a feeling of warmth from Alteria’s lips envelopes her own. It was as though all her tension washed away as the warmth began to fill up her body for what felt like minutes, but was only moments.

Until suddenly it was gone with a, “Sorry.”

As quickly as she appeared and stole a kiss, Alteria made her get away. However with her sudden heightened alertness Jeanne managed to reflexively grab her by the wrist before she got away. With a tug she pulled her back and spun her around in order to hold her face and return the favor.

The only thing on Jeanne’s mind was how it felt right.

Their second kiss broke as they both began to giggle, and as their heads moved apart Jeanne wiped away a tear on Alteria’s face with her thumb.

“So does this mean you like me?” Alteria asked through snickers as though she was about to tell what she thought was a really funny joke poorly.

“Why not stay the night and find out?” The playful seduction in Jeanne’s gaze in that moment was something Alteria would never forget, because she knew it was a look for her the way she was and no one else.

Like magnets their lips attracted to each other again, but the spell was broken by the unmistakable sound of a phone alarm that began to blast from Alteria’s pocket. As fast as she had stolen the kiss she moved to grab her TV remote on the coffee table. Stopping suddenly in mid reach for it looking like a deer in headlights, she seemed to now realize what she’d just done and looked over to Jeanne.

“Can I actually stay the night again?” Alteria spoke as though nothing from the last few minutes had happened, “My favorite anime block is about to start, and I don’t want to miss it live.”

Jeanne couldn’t help but smirk, “Yeah.”

Alteria smiled at her bigger than she’d ever seen, before turning the TV on and sliding onto the couch right next to her. Before Jeanne could even begin to consider how to best put her arm around her Alteria was already resting her head on Jeanne’s shoulder.

“I guess you won’t have to sneak into my bed tonight,” Alteria tried to keep a straight face, not averting her eyes from the TV, but Jeanne watched as her face began to turn red. They were both glad tomorrow was Sunday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end of this story, or I guess this part. I had the idea for the kiss scene for a while, but at that point didn't have anything on how it got to that point. So a lot of this story was just trying to write to that moment so it would make sense. I think initially it happened in a less downbeat moment for Alteria, but as I wrote to get there that's just sort of what it became. Which also makes it a more cathartic moment I think.
> 
> In any case I have some ideas for where a continuation of this story might go now that they're dating. Most of which come from realizing this story is really heavy on Jeanne's backstory and perspective, but not Alteria's so much. So expect that if/when I get around to writing it.


End file.
